LAGOS — The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a Chinese national, Liu Beixiang, also known as Lao Liu, before Justice Ayokule Faji of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, for allegedly giving false information to an officer of the Commission.

Beixiang was brought before the court on Monday, April 15, 2025, on a one-count charge bordering on the offence, which he pleaded not guilty to when read in court.

According to the EFCC, the offence was committed in December 2024 in Lagos. The charge read: \"That you, LIU BEIXIANG (A.K.A LAO LIU), sometime in December, 2024 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did give information, which you knew to be false, to an officer of the Federal Government of Nigeria in the discharge of his duties and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 16 (1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004.\"

Following Beixiang’s not guilty plea, prosecution counsel, Babatunde Sonoiki, requested a trial date and asked the court to remand the defendant in a Correctional Centre.

However, defence counsel, F.A. Dalmeda, told the court that a plea bargain application had already been submitted to the EFCC and a motion for bail had also been filed. The EFCC reportedly responded to the bail application on the same day.

Justice Faji subsequently adjourned the matter to June 23, 2025, for a report on the plea bargain and ordered that the defendant be remanded in a Correctional Facility.

— Source: EFCC/X